The Year in Metal continued (BBG asked countless others to make lists... and here they all are)
by BBG
Laura of Kylesa (more by Paul Birman)
Earlier I discussed my favorite LPs of the year, but why leave the fun to just one? I asked some of my favorite artists and promoters for their 2009 highlights. The responses were great. You already saw some of them. Justina listed some quotes, Liam Wilson talked about Philly, and Josh Graham listed good things about 2009. They continue below. You’ll find lists of favorite songs and albums of the year, not to mention answers to crucial questions like:
- What are Coalesce‘s favorite pizza toppings?
- Which one of my top 20 artists of the year tried to get in a cab with Kirsten Dunst?
- What is the #1 sauce/condiment of 2009?
Find out the answers to those questions and more, below…
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Stavros Giannopoulos of The Atlas Moth – Top Ten Albums of 2009
Converge – Axe To Fall
Coalesce – Ox
Ancestors – Of Sound Mind
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Zoroaster – Voice Of Saturn
Goatwhore – Carving Out The Eyes Of God
Doom – Born Like This
Burnt By The Sun – Heart of Darkness
Yob – The Great Cessation
Saviours – Accelerated Living
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Aaron Nichols of Defeatist‘s Ten Reasons I Didn’t Corpse Myself In 2009 (Better luck next year):
1. Rorschach twice in one day.
2. Bolt Thrower twice in one weekend.
3. Sayyadina six days in a row.
4. Trekking to Rochester for Keelhaul/Sulaco BBQ wedding reception.
5. Repulsion, finally.
6. Keelhaul: Triumphant Return To Obscurity
7. Dishammer: Vintage Addiction
8. Magma: Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré + Christian Vander revisionism
9. Parlamentarisk Sodomi: De Anarkistiske An(n)ale + Regnskog, Fred og
Vegetarmat
10. The cats.
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Chris Ulsh of Mammoth Grinder / Hatred Surge‘s Top 10 of 2009
1. Hatred Surge/Mammoth Grinder tour zone
2. New LPs from Destino Final, Iron Age, Wasted Time, Sacred Shock
3. New 7″s from Obliteration, Power Trip
4. Playing with Eyehategod
5. Whataburger A1 Thick & Hearty
6. UT Football
7. Michael Jackson finally dying
8. “Butter’s Bottom Bitch” episode of South Park
9. The newest season of It’s Always Sunny
10. Joining Metallica
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Ian Jacyszyn’s (Castevet, Copremesis, etc) Non metal musings for 2009
Paulo’s Top 10 List (above)
Dopplereffekt live
Majuere – Time Span
Cave – Psychic Summer
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Without Sinking
Soisong – xAj3z
Zombi/Maserati – Split LP
Lulu Rouge – Bless You
Vladislav Delay – Tumma
A Place To Bury Strangers – Exploding Head
Dark Castle at Union Pool (more by Samantha Marble)
Steve Brooks (Torche) – Top 10 Crispin Glover movies
1. Ruben and Ed
2. Rivers Edge
3. The Orkly Kid
4. Wild at Heart
5. Teachers
6. Friday the 13th IV
7. Willard
8. People vs. Larry Flint
9. The Doors
10. My Tutor
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Jared Warren of Big Business, Melvins – Top 10 of 2009
1 Sleeping
2 My ladyfriend’s pumpkin pudding
3 Para-sailing in Mexico and not getting swine flu
4 The guy from the Sopranos coming to our show at the Mercury Lounge
5 Taco Zone taco truck on Alvarado
6 Tacos Digital taco truck at Sunset and Alvarado
7 Grand Canyon National Park
8 Petrified Forest National Park, AZ
9 Covering one of my walls in fake fur
10 Makers Mark Bourbon
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Kevin Hufnagel’s Top 10 restaurants Dysrhythmia ate at on tour in 2009:
1. Honey’s Sit ‘n Eat – Philadelphia, PA
2. Monk’s Cafe – Philadelphia, PA
3. The Black Sheep – Richmond, VA
4. Kuma’s Corner – Chicago, IL
5. Hard Times Cafe – Minneapolis, MN
6. Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
7. Sputnik – Denver, CO
8. Vegan World – Los Angeles, CA
9. Zeus Cafe – Lafayette, LA (The belly dancers, alternating LOUD/quiet dance music, and drunken dancing patrons further enhance the overall experience)
10. Grandma’s K&I Diner – Albuquerque, NM (On the list more for quantity of food rather than quality… every dish weighs at least 3 pounds)
Boris at Scion Rock Fest (more by Steven Brown)
Top 5 food items by Sean Ingram of Coalesce
Top five mainstream burgers avail in Nationwide.
1. Five guys
2. Whataburger
3. Hardees $6 burger
4. Sonic
5. White castle (only after alcohol has been consumed)Top five dunkin donuts brand donuts
1. Old fashioned
2. Boston creme
3. Lemon filled
4. Chocolate sprinkles
5. PumpkinTop 5 pizza toppings
1. Green olive and tomato
2. Tomato and feta cheese
3. Buffalo chicken and carrots
4. Pepperoni and bacon
5. Good ole pepperoni and extra cheese
Philip Cope of Kylesa‘s Top 10 (well 20) Songs of 2009
Heavy Stuff
1. Tombs – “Gossamer”
2. Paintbox – “Fly on the ship/Cry of the Sheeps”
3. Mastodon – “The Czar”
4. Coalesce – “In My Wake, For My Own”
5. Pissed Jeans – “False Jesii Part 2”
6. Converge – “Dark Horse”
7. Cannibal Corpse – “Evisceration Plague”
8. Isis – “20 Minutes/40 Years”
9. Yob – “Breathing from the Shallows”
10. Agoraphobic Nosebleed – “Question of Integrity”
Other Stuff
1. P.O.S. – “Purexed”
2. Black Math Horseman – “Tyrant”
3. Crippled Black Phoenix – “444”
4. The Flaming Lips – “Silver Trembling Hands”
5. Grizzly Bear – “Two Weeks”
6. Long Distance Calling – “Black Paper Planes”
7. Animal Collective – “Summertime Clothes”
8. Jay Reatard – “Faking It”
9. Dalek – “Gutter Tactics”
10. Sonic Youth – “Antennaþ”
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Chris from Woe‘s BEST OF 2009
10. Offending cartoon-like internet warriors and black metal scenesters all over the place. Fuck your FUNderground. Not interested in your social scene! Not here to make friends! Fuck you!
9. George W leaving office. There was probably music played at some point, so we’ll count it.
8. Shit-talked (AKA slandered) in the final issue of one of those big glossy metal mags. It did more to help than anything else. We all had a good laugh.
7. I SAW BOLT THROWER PLAY.
6. Universal balance is restored when Neill from Krieg (he’ll appreciate the name drop) gives me a new copy of Nyktalgia‘s “Peisithanatos” and my good friend Will mails me his extra copy of Dawn‘s “Slaughtersun.” Both were stolen along with my car in May. Both mattered far more than the car.
5. Received an email from one of my musical fucking HEROS saying that he likes a cover I did of one of his band’s songs.
4. My good friend and bandmate tours Europe as a member of ABSU. Holy shit!
3. Infernal Stronghold‘s “Godless Noise.” Stop reading and go listen to it.
2. phillymetal.com
1. Became label-mates with some of my biggest influences. Ego is now size of boat.
Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod, on a boat (more by Chloe Rice)
Complete Failure‘s Top 10 of 2009
Radiohead – These are my Twisted Words
Trash Talk – East of Eden
Napalm Death – Time Waits for No Slave
Nile – Those Whom the Gods Detest
Weekend Nachos – Unforgivable
Magrudergrind – Self Titled
Bastard Noise – Rogue Astronaut
Kickback – No Surrender
Sonic Youth – The Eternal
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
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Adam Shore (The Blackened Music Series)’s Top 10 of 2009
1. Fever Ray – Fever Ray (Rabid/Mute)
2. Wolves In The Throne Room – Black Cascade (Southern Lord)
3. Rhys Chatham – A Crimson Grail with 200 Guitars at Lincoln Center
4. Joker – Purple Wow Sound mixtape
5. Mono with the Wordless Music Series Orchestra at the Society for Ethical Culture Concert Hall
6. So many amazing mixtapes/podcasts from F.A.C.T., Resident Advisor, and XLR8R
7. Marked Men – Ghosts (Dirtnap)
8. Krallice – Dimensional Breakthrough (Profound Lore)
9. Boredoms with 9 drummers at Terminal 5
10. Immortal – All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast)
11. Sunn O))) – “Alice” (Southern Lord), Gui Boratto- Take My Breath Away (Kompakt)
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Mike Hill of Tombs Top Ten for 2009
1. Isis – Wavering Radiant
2. Where the Wild Things Are
3. Seeing Marduk play live at Blender, NYC
4. Playing the Burnt by the Sun Reunion at the Cake Shop, NYC
5. Seeing the Watchmen movie at midnight on it’s opening day
6. Meeting Wino at South by Southwest
7. Gin by Cobalt
8. The US dvd release of Martyrs
9. Deathspell Omega / SVART split
10. Advance copy of Diet Pills / Dead in the Woods split
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Grim Kim Presents: An Arbitrary Collection of Twenty Awesome Records That Should Have Been on Everyone’s List Instead of Fucking Mastodon
Coffinworm – Great Bringer of Night (self-released)
Diocletian – Doom Cult (Invictus Productions)
Fen – The Malediction Fields (Aural Music/Code 666)
Teitanblood – Seven Chalices (Norma Evangelium Diaboli/Ajna Offensive/Dauthus)
Shining – VI – Klagopsalmer (Osmose)
Brutal Truth – Evolution Through Revolution (Relapse)
Oak – Oak (A389 Records)
Peste Noire – Ballade cuntre lo Anemi Francor (De Profundis)
Ascended – Temple of Dark Offerings (Enucleation)
Funebrarum – The Sleep of Morbid Dreams (Cyclone Empire)
Javelina – Beasts Among Sheep (Relapse)
Ahab – The Divinity of Oceans (Napalm)
Ork Bastards – Final Price (Witch Hammer Productions)
Grave Miasma – Exalted Emanation (Sepulchral Voice)
Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vestusta II: Dialogue With the Stars (Candlelight)
Archgoat – The Light Devouring Darkness (Blasphemous Underground)
Cobalt – Gin (Profound Lore)
Nux Vomica – Asleep in the Ashes (Aborted Society)
Skeletal Spectre – Tomb Coven (Razorback)
Khanate – Clean Hands Go Foul (Hydra Head)
Hatred Surge at The Charleston (more by Justina Villanueva)
Matt Martinez (Landmine Marathon) Top Ten Records that I enjoyed in 2009
1 Napalm Death – Time Waits for No Slave
2 Converge – Axe to Fall
3 Asphyx – Death… The Brutal Way
4 Do Make Say Think – The Other Truths
5 Portal – Swarth
6 Doomriders – Darkness Come Alive
7 Skeletonwitch – Breathing the Fire
8 Funeral Mist – Maranatha
9 Katatonia – Night is the New Day
10 Black Cobra – Chronomega
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Dave Adelson, Owner of 20 Buck Spin
The best record of 2009 by a country mile is Teitanblood‘s Seven Chalices 2xLP. A record this vicious, ugly, bestial and vile, while still maintaining a superior standard of songwriting, structure, lyrical potency and aesthetics is rarely seen in any genre, making this death metal album not only the best of the year, but top 10 of the decade.
Other top records of 2009, not including ones 20 Buck Spin had a hand in, and not including reissued material, are:
Vanhelgd – Cult Of Lazarus
Excoriate – On Pestilent Winds
Embrace Of Thorns – Atonement Ritual
Maim – From The Womb To The Tomb
Tribulation – The Horror
Destroyer 666 – Defiance
Christian Mistress – Mother Of Mercy EP + Demo
Iron Lung / Walls / Pig Heart Transplant – Public Humiliation
Graveless – Condemned To A Nameless Death
Bereft – Your Messiah Will Fail
Bastard Noise – Our Earth’s Blood IV
Pussygutt – Gathering Strengths
Low Threat Profile – Product Number 1And despite whatever it is the journalists are pumping, Kylesa remains the most superior “professional” metal band working today.
A List of Things that Book of Black Earth Loved from 2009
– Ives and Hot Graves and the rising Florida black metal/ d beat scene
– The Devil’s Blood “I’ll Be Your Ghost”
– Black Breath (live)
– Love, Sex, Fear, Death: The Inside Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment (Paperback)
– John Marley shirt by African Apparel (I’ve attached a picture)
– The new Landmine Marathon
– Raekwon, cuban linx 2
– Super mario brothers for Wii
– The new Muse.
– Sham wow (seriously, its amazing!)
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Paulo of Copremesis‘s Top Ten Sauce / Condiments of the year:
1. Maggi Seasoning Sauce
2. Mother’s Best Toyomansi
3. Mae Ploy Sweet Chilli Sauce
4. Tabasco Pepper Sauce
5. Datu Puti Spiced Vinegar
6. Rufina Patis Fish Sauce
7. Bali Spice Peanut Satay Sauce
8. Mang Tomas All Purpose Sauce
9. Wild Thymes Vindaloo Curry Sauce
10. Silverswan Soy Sauce
Keelhaul at Public Assembly (more by Justina Villanueva)
Erik Wunder of Cobalt/Man’s Gin Top 10 moments/albums of 2009
Having come off of a European tour with the Jarboe band, some of these stories may take the place of an album. I’d like to add that this list is in no particular order, so pay no attention to each album/instance’s placement.
1. Dealing with Polish police officers. This was a hysterical and ammusing event for me in Warsaw. The show had a guarantee with us, so we had a contract stating that they would pay us however much money. Well, after all the music and the craziness had subsided, the club revealed that they had no money to pay us. So instead of payment we started dissasembling the venue’s sound system and loading it into the tour trailer to copmensate the monetary loss.
Well, before we got a chance to clean the whole place out the police showed up (just minutes after the club owner’s mafia looking friends had arrived to help us “solve” this miscommunication). Polish police are nothing like American police. American police actually have authority and straight guidelines by which to punish you. These Polish police officers were just as confused as everyone else. And their uniforms were cheap, and they were more interested in striking a bargain of some kind than enforcing the law. I had been drinking whisky so this was all absolutely hilarious to me. The polce and the club owner and the 300-pound bald meat-head Polish mafia friends all discussing how to resolve the problem. We ended up keeping the soundboard but returning the speakers to the club. It was better to reach consensus than wake up in some weird basement in the middle of Poland.
2. Clutch – Strange Cousins from the West. Clutch never lets me down. I don’t know if they are cool scene-wise these days, but i always buy their records.
3. Seeing The Baron from Amebix in the backstage parking lot at Hellfest. I grew up listening to Amebix, and they were my heroes for a long time. I didn’t get to see them play because we had to leave after the first day of the festival to play in London the next night, but I walked by him in the parking lot, he nodded at me, knowing that i knew who he was, and i almost shit my pants. The Baron is the man.
4. Mastodon – Crack the Skye. Good record. I just like it.
5. Hitting on Kirsten Dunst outside of a bar and getting into a cab with her before her chauffeur pulled me out and said, “Hey you drunk ass hole, What the hell do you think you’re doing??”
6. Watching this New Jersey band The Nolan Gate open for my friend’s band. They were rad. Like old Am Rep stuff. I can’t wait to hear their new stuff.
7. Drinking Port in Porto.
8. Destroyer 666 – both the new album and seeing them at this crazy festival in Bitterfeld, Germany,Where our tent flooded and there were drunken people passed out face down in the mud everywhere and things were getting smashed and i was in the middle of nowhere wandering through the woods and people were on all kinds of chemicals and there was no order at all. My kind of place.
9. New Bob Dylan record. Never forget legends.
10. Weird European toilet scenarios. I encountered a myriad of different situations over there. Some of them were just holes in the floor. A nice, porceline floor mind you, but nothing to sit on or get anything done comfortably. Just squat and hope for the best. I have no idea how the elderly deal with these kinds of situations.
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Karl Simon of The Gates of Slumber‘s Top 10 of 2009
Spiritus Mortis – The God Behind God(actually released in 09!)
Scorpions – In Trance
Iron Maiden – Somewhere in Time
Black Sabbath – Seventh Star
Black Sabbath – Born Again
Cirith Ungol – King of The Dead(two years running!)
Judas Priest – Sad Wings of Destiny
Thin Lizzy – Night Life
Thin Lizzy – Vagabonds of the Western World
The Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks
Rorschach at The Charleston (more by Ryan Muir)
Rick Smith from Torche is so RAWK that he needs to go to 11…Spinal Tap Style. TOP 11 SHOWS I ATTENDED THIS YEAR:
1 – FUSION FEST in Larz, Germany
2 – Eyehategod @ Emo’s in Austin, TX
3 – Jesus Lizard + Melt Banana + Coalesce @ Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX
4 – Asshole Parade + American Cheeseburger + Religious As Fuck + No Friends @ Market Street Pub in Gainesville, FL
5 – Shudder To Think @ The Filmore in San Francisco, CA
6 – Monotonix @ The Back Booth in Orlando, FL
7 – Coalesce + Voivod @ Trix Club in Antwerp, Belgium
8 – Harvey Milk + Young Widows @ The Subterranean in Chicago, IL
9 – The Melvins @ The House Of Blues in Orlando, FL
10 – OM + Six Organs Of Admittance + Lichens @ The Earl in Atlanta, GA
11 – SunnO))) + Eagle Twin @ Seney-Stovall Chapel in Athens, GA
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Adam Wentworth of Bloodhorse‘s Top 10 of 2009
01 – Converge Axe To Fall
02 – Zombi Spirit Animal
03 – The Hope Conspiracy True Nihilist
04 – The Fox Hunt America’s Working So We Don’t Have To
05 – Behemoth Evangelion
06 – The Goddamn Rattlesnake Be Mine
07 – Narrows New Distances
08 – Taking Back Sunday New Again
09 – William Elliot Whitmore Animals In The Dark
10 – Doomriders Darkness Come Alive
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Rennie Resmini of Starkweather Favorites of 2009
Music: Blk Jks – After Robots / Celeste – Misanthrope(s) / City of Ships – Look What God Did to Us / Gerda – III / Moloken – Our Astral Circle / Proghma-C Bar-do Travel / Samo – Plex Zero / Transitional – Stomach of the Sun / Ulcerate – Everything is Fire / Yob – The Great Cessation
If you’d dig film, first 5 that come to mind: Bronson / Last Ride / Meat Grinder / Possessed (aka Faithless Hell, Living Death, etc) /Pintu Terlarang (aka Forbidden Door)
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Olly Pearson of Moss‘s Top 10 of 2009
1. Saint Vitus (live times 3)
2. Unemployment
3. Holland
4. The madness of the Electric Wizard/Blood Ceremony tour
5. Getting tattooed
6. The Pretty Things
7. The Death SS shirt Liz made me
8. Hellfest, Roadburn, ATP and the other festivals where I had an insane time and only saw two bands
9. ‘Love Sex Fear Death: The Inside Story of the Process Church of the Final Judgement’
10. Sleeping
Repulsion at Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more by Justina Villanueva)
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Justin Maranga of Ancestors‘ Top 10 Records of 2009:
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Mastodon really nailed it this time. This record is really the perfect mix of prog and metal. I didn’t particularly like Blood Mountain, so I was especially pleased to see Mastodon come back with such a strong record. I’ve heard all the complaints about it, most of which attack the vocals, but fuck those people and their whining…Mastodon are back and have proven that they’re capable of even more than we previously thought.
Three Mile Pilot – Planets / Grey Clouds 7″
I was pretty excited when I found out that Three Mile Pilot was reuniting. I love both Black Heart Procession and Pinback, but neither tops Three Mile Pilot. Although this is just a single, I had to put it on my list. Judging by these two songs, the full length that will follow next year will definitely be on my 2010 list. These are easily the two catchiest songs of the year.
Wayne Hancock – Viper of Melody
Wayne Hancock is criminally under-appreciated. There aren’t many songwriters out there who are as legit as Wayne Hancock. When he sings about the road, it’s because he lives on the road. When he sings about being a drunk, it’s because he was. He is a man who sings from the heart and never has there been a more genuine country singer (especially this day in age when country needs someone like him to bring it back from the dregs). Wayne Hancock is truly the Hank Williams of our time, although Viper of Melody leans a bit more toward the western swing side of Wayne’s music, so I guess for this album he can be the Bob Wills of our time.
REM – Live at the Olympia
I know that it’s not really an album per se, but I don’t care. This is an incredible set. 39 songs, most of which are culled from their IRS years, most of Chronic Town, a good chunk of Reckoning, and a bunch of stuff from Fables, Murmur, and Lifes Rich Pageant, and my two favorite songs off Document. If you don’t believe that REM is one of the most influential bands of the last 30 years, listen to them burn through this set of perfectly crafted pop songs. The other interesting thing about this album is hearing how the songs from Accelerate changed between the time they were rehearsing them (when this live album was recorded) to when the actual album was recorded. It’s interesting to hear how true professionals do it. This album also further solidified my opinion that Mike Mills is a genius. Anyway, this is truly one for the fans.
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions – Through the Devil Softly
I have trouble not getting goosebumps the second Hope Sandoval starts singing. As a fan of Mazzy Star and her first solo record (released in 2001), I was starting to lose hope that she would ever record again. Thankfully she’s back with a new record and it’s everything I would have expected (had I expected it)! She is a beautiful woman who makes beautiful music and I hope she continues to do so.
Converge – Axe to Fall
Wow. That was my reaction to the first 30 seconds of “Dark Horse,” the first track on the new Converge record. After listening to the rest of the album? “Holy shit…that was as good, if not better, than Jane Doe!” I didn’t have any interest in their last two records, but Converge is back on my radar and they kicked my ass for ignoring them for the past few years. Give them a chance to kick yours. You won’t be disappointed. Especially worth mentioning are the last two tracks which deviate from their usually riffery. The first brings a Neurosis-tinged vibe and actually features Steve Von Till at the helm. However, the real highlight for me is the last track called “Wretched World” featuring the guys from Genghis Tron (who I ordinarily can’t stand). If they made an entire album that sounded like that last track, I would gladly purchase it.
Black Math Horseman – Wyllt
Perhaps I’m biased, having suggested to Tee Pee Records that they sign Black Math Horseman and put out their debut, but regardless, it was everything I expected it to be: some weird amalgam of Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins and Amebix filtered through doom metal. Perfect album. Buy it. Go see them live. You will not be disappointed.
Mono – Hymn to the Immortal Wind
Post-rock is a genre that got pretty tired pretty quickly; the bastard step-child of shoegaze. However, the one band that has always stood out from the pack is Mono. Why someone hasn’t gotten them to score a film is beyond me. Anyway, this album sounds quite a bit like their last two, which is to say: good. This time they’re backed by a full orchestra. It was bound to happen eventually.
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – White Lunar
Okay, this one is definitely cheating, because it’s actually a compilation of songs from various film scores that they’ve done. However, we haven’t had a new Dirty Three album in way too long, so I’m going to include this. Every time I find out that Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have collaborated on another film score I’m always eager to hear it. Not to mention, the movies are always good! My only gripe is that they didn’t include the song “Rather Lovely Thing” from the “Assassination of Jesse James…” soundtrack.
Tom Waits – Glitter & Doom Live
Okay, so it’s another live album. Maybe if people started making some good studio records I wouldn’t have to cheat by putting live albums, compilations and singles on my list. Regardless, this is an awesome album. I had the good fortune of having seen Tom Waits on this tour, and it was the best concert I’ve ever been to. That should tell you why I’m including this live compilation from that tour on this list. Amazing.
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Ludicra at Santos (more here)
John Cobbett of Ludicra/Hammers Of Misfortune‘s Best of 2009 in no particular order
Krallice – Dimensional Bleedthrough
Ruins Of Beverast – Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite
Saros – Acrid Plains
Absu – s/t
Slough Feg – Ape Uprising!
Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta II Dialogue With The Stars
The Gates of Slumber – Hymns Of Blood And Thunder
Yob – The Great Cessation
Giant Squid – The Ichthyologist
Deadsea – s/t
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Chris Bruni of Profound Lore’s Top Ten Albums 2009 (not including albums released on PL)
1. The Chasm – Farseeing The Paranormal Abysm
2. Grave Miasma – Exalted Emanations
3. Teitanblood – Seven Chalices
4. Unreleased three new Ocrilim albums/Oldest demo
5. Katatonia – Night Is The New Day
6. Ares Kingdom – Incendiary
7. The Axis of Perdition – Urfe
8. Antony & The Johnson – The Crying Light
9. Beherit – Engram
10. Weapon – Drakonian Paradigm
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Will Fiore of Zoroaster‘s Top 10 of 2009
Om – God is Good
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Yob – The Great Cessation
Dark Castle – Spirited Migration
Baroness – Blue Record
Adam Franklin – Spent Bullets
The Gates of Slumber – Hymns of Blood and Thunder
Shrinebuilder – Shrinebuilder
Big Business – Mind the Drift
Kylesa – Static Tensions
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Naam‘s Top 5 of 2009
Immortal – All Shall Fall
Imaad Wasif – The Voidist
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
Converge – Axe to Fall
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions – Through the Devil Softly
Tombs at Cake Shop (more by Paul Birman)
Scott Bastiste of Saviours‘ top 10 nights of live music in 2009 (in no particular order)
Destroyer 666 – Thee Parkside, San Francisco
Sleep / Killing Joke – ATP, Minehead UK
Midnight – Thee Parkside, San Francisco
Outskirts of Infinity / Farflung / Neurosis / Angel Witch / Saint Vitus – Roadburn, Tilburg NL
Saint Vitus / Iron Age – Sonar, Baltimore
Melvins / Danava – Grand Ballroom, San Francisco
Hawkwind / Roky Erickson – Green Man, Wales UK
Amebix / Annihilation Time at some spot in west LA
Master – Elbo Room, San Francisco
Red Fang – Ash Street Saloon, Portland
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My Top 20 Tweets of 2009 by David Hall (director of films and videos for Today Is The Day, Jucifer, Fuck The Facts, Sigh, Hail Of Bullets, and more)
1. Love it when my wife announces “there’s going to be some big changes around here” just bcuz I raided her stash of blank death certificates
2. As a man, if you at all value your anus, never accidentally take one of your wife’s fertility pills: scalding and angry feces may result.
3. Freudian slip: I just accidentally took the biggest chunk of flesh out of my wife’s leg with a weed whacker. Sorry!
4. Had an hour and a half phone call with J Randall today – if this project takes off it will be the sickest shit ever!
5. Went shopping for blinds today and asked the woman working if a certain style had “tight slits” – she said yes.
6. William Hurt calls me “Dav-eeed” because we met in Montreal and he thinks I’m French and he gets mad if you call him Bill.
7. My daughter just told me “God is Dead.” Seven years old and unintentionally quoting Nietzsche… suck on that, Baby Einstein.
8. Schoenburg or Stravisnky? It’s funny that as soon as Schoenburg died, Stravinsky started writing atonal music.
9. Bloody Panda in Toronto next week, gonna film them, I think they rule, go see them.
10. Whenever my wife is on the phone I yell ‘who is it’ as loud as I can just to maintain a sense of authority.
11. Will be shooting ‘Jucifer: Live at Call the Office” on July 27th… if you want to be an extra and live anywhere near London let me know.
12. Listening to ‘The Harvest Floor’ – fucking love this album; reminds me of a hot day at MDF, high on life, weed, pcp and booze.
13. Back from vacation for 5 days – got destroyed last night, ate a sundae at 2am with Columbian mafia tear drop tattoo – editing starts monday.
14. Listening to Wolves in the Throne Room live from #deathfest – incredible; drummer is an animal.
15. @tanningsalons your cattle decap footage is TIGHT AS FUCK!!!!
16. Personal highlight of #deathfest = accidentally smoking pcp then being on stage filming Pig Destroyer ‘play’ Jennifer.
17. In Baltimore for Memorial Day – what is Memorial Day? Watched the sun come up from hotel room – so tired – feet destroyed.
18. Accidentally smoked some pcp at #deathfest – at hotel chilling going back down there soon.
19. SIGH VIDEO extras meet at that closed diner at the fest gates at 12pm sharp and be prepared to DIE!!!!!
20. A day late but we made it across the border after 24 hours of abuse and interrogation!!! MDF Bound.
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P. Delaney of Black Anvil‘s Top 10 of 2009
(these first 3 are pretty much a tie for 1st place)
1- The Devils Blood – The Time Of No Time Evermore
2- Funeral Mist – Maranatha
3- Marduk – Wormwood
4- Ace Frehley – Anomaly
5- Kiss – Sonic Boom
6- Arckanum – ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ
7- Inferno – Black Devotion
8- Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know
9- Die Hard – Nihilistic Vision
10- End – III
The rowdies at Cake Shop (more by Paul Birman)
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Bjorn Dossche of Rise & Fall‘s Top 10 of 2009
Iron Age: the highest band in the world
Chocolate mousse
Converge – Axe to Fall
Raekwon Only Built for Cuban Lynx II
Discussing Ghostface aka pretty tony with nicole
Penfield wintergear
The prospect of snow
Hope Con coming to euroland soon
Winter flannel
Herald’s tourstories
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Dom from Pulling Teeth/A389 Records’s Top 10 of 2009
Integrity/Creepout Split 7″
HateWaves – Taste TheXBeast Demo
Iron Age – The Sleeping Eye
Trapped Under Ice Secrets Of The World
Gnarly Rueage CD
Oak 12″
Pala 7″
Gluttons 7″
Love Below New Demos
Seraphim Demo
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Curran Reynolds of Wetnurse‘s top 20 best live bands I saw in 2009
Animals Killing People
Aura Noir
Bloody Panda
Complete Failure
Dark Castle
Devourment
Flourishing
Graf Orlock
Harpoon
Krallice
Landmine Marathon
Light Yourself On Fire
Liturgy
Lord Mantis
Maruta
Millions
Salome
Snake Sustaine
Tiger Flowers
Wizardry
Rosetta at The Studio at Webster Hall (more by Jason Jamal Nakleh)
Herb Jowett of Javelina‘s top 10 things that made 2009 fun
1. Javelina opening for The Accused in Phoenix, AZ
2. Goatwhore “Carving Out The Eyes of God”
3. My 1978 Harley Davidson chopper
4. Napalm Death in Allentown, PA
5. Kill The Client, Saayadina and Defeatist in some kids living room in NJ
6. Morne “Untold Wait”
7. Motorhead at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ
8. Serpent Throne “The Battle of Old Crow”
9. Wino “Punctuated Equilibrium”
10. Eyehategod touring
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UN:ART:IG‘s Top 5’s of 2009
Best Show Promoters
01) Edan/E4E1
02) Chronic Youth
03) Hardcore Gig Volume
04) ToddP
05) BBG
Most Fun “D.I.Y. Spaces”
1) House of Yes
2) 7 Train
3) Bushwick Boat
4) Silent Barn
5) Lit Fuse Bike Shop
Coldest Show of Last Winter
01) Anthrax – East River Park 02/2009
02) Extra Life – Market Hotel 12/2008
03) Skeletons – Death By Audio 01/2009
Most Annoying/Disappointing Restaurant Moments
01) Roberta’s – East Williamsburg (too many to mention)
02) Planet Thailand – Williamsburg (closed down – you are missed)
03) Long Lai – Bushwick (constant recipe changes)
04) Wild Ginger – Williamsburg (do you have vegan/veg entrees that are filling and not covered in disgustingly sweet “one style fits all” sauce?)
05) Northeast Kingdom – Bushwick (shrinking the portion of scrambled eggs to appetizer size)
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Municipal Waste at Gramercy (more by Paul Birman)
Top 2009 gear scores that Salome is excited about using on the next record!
1. 1977 Marshall JMP 100w
This is one of the best sounding Marshall amps I’ve ever heard. And it used to belong to DC band Faraquet, so the rock is strong with this one.
2. early 80’s Marshall 1960b 4×12
This cabinet is bright red, looks like shit, and sounds amazing.
3. late 60’s/early 70’s Plush P1000
Based on a Fender Twin circuit but a lot meaner sounding. These are all tube unlike the similar looking 70’s Kustom amps. It looks like it belongs inside a boogie van and it’s pretty comfortable to sit on too.
4. 1967 Fender Bandmaster
This is what they call a “drip edge” due to the silver trim around the grill cloth. Fender only made these for a year before the full change to silverface cosmetics. Sounds killer and Fender amps are great with fuzz pedals…
5. Devi Ever/Effector 13 Spectacular Aenima and Truly Beautiful Disaster pedals
These are crazy fuzz pedals with feedback loops so you can put other pedals in the loop and make them even crazier. The noise never ends!
6. early 80’s MXR Distortion II
This pedal is heavy enough to be used as a weapon, figuratively and literally speaking. Judging by it’s appearance, it probably has been.
7. Earthquaker Devices White Light Overdrive
Great sounding, non-tubescreamer clone overdrive that stacks really well with other drive pedals. It also has cool graphics of a hand with lightning bolts coming out of a cloud on it.
8. 83-84 Takamine GZ-300
Takamine is much better known for their acoustic guitars, but made solidbody electrics for two years in the early 80s. A lot of japanese made guitars from the mid 70s to early 80s are really nice, once you rip out all the electronics and replace them, of course.
9. Ibanez MMM1 Baritone
For some reason, it’s hard to find decent baritone guitars with humbuckers. This one was the signature model for the guy from Staind, and it’s no longer in production. Oddly enough, he has a new PRS signature model out now, but that one looks pretty crappy compared to this one. I say oddly enough because I had no idea that Staind was even still a band, let alone popular enough to justify having signature instruments. Anyway, this guitar is actually really nice (still needs electronics replacement) and doesn’t even say “Staind” on it anywhere!
10. Various percussion devices shaped like animals
My mom gave me these as birthday gifts because she has no idea what to get me. Funny thing is, I think she felt bad because she thought they were cheesy… but I love them! I especially like the lizard slapper one, it’s going to sound killer through a space echo!
Landmine Marathon @ Lit Lounge (more by Justina Villanueva)
Rich Hall‘s Top 20 of 2009
Jay-Z – The Blueprint
Coalesce – Ox / Oxep
Doomriders – Darkness Comes Alive
Converge – Axe to Fall
Mt. Eerie – Winds Poem
Zoroaster – Voice of Saturn
Russian Circles – Geneva
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Kylesa – Static Tensions
Bloodhorse – Horizoner
Immortal – All Shall Fall
Behemoth – Evangelion
Bat for Lashes – Two Suns
El Mariachi Bronx – s/t
Narrows – New Distances/ep
Isis – Wavering Radiant
Baroness – Blue Record
Goatwhore – Carving Out The Eyes of God
Obits – I Blame You
Kowloon Walled City Gambling on the Richter Scale
Them Crooked Vultures – s/t
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Hunter Hunt-Hendrix Liturgy Top 10 of 2009
1. Alain Badiou: Logics of Worlds
2. Lars von Trier: Antichrist
3. Converge: Axe to Fall
4. Ryan Trecartin
5. Talk Normal: Sugarland
6. Krallice: Dimensional Bleedthrough
7. White Mice: Ganjahovadose
8. Gerhard Richter: Writings
9. news of Swans reunion
10. The Red Book
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Brandon Stosuy, Haunting The Chapel
2009 was busy. I’m glad it happened. Since I already calculated my 30 Favorite Albums Of 2010 (along with dozens of runners up), I figured I’d put together my Most Anticipated Albums For 2010. I know folks are excited for upcoming releases from Pig Destroyer, Torche, etc. I am, too. But these are the ones I’m the most curious about, for various reasons. In no order.
Ludicra – The Tenant (Profound Lore, 3/3)
Agalloch – TBA (Autumn 2010)
Darkthrone – Circle The Wagons (Peaceville, February)
Nachtmystium – Addicts – Black Meddle Pt. II (Century Media, July)
Burzum – Belus (Century Media, 3/8)
Hooded Menace – Never Cross The Dead (Profound Lore, 3/30)
Salome – TBA (“Julyish”)
Watain – TBA (Season Of Mist, May)
Nightbringer – Apocalypse Sun (Ajna, early 2010)
Shining – VII/Född förlorare (Indie Recordings, March/April)
High On Fire – Snakes For The Divine (E1, 2/23)New noisiness I’m enjoying: Grinning Death’s Head – No Afterlife (Youth Attack) and WOLD’s Working Together For Our Privacy (Profound Lore). Speaking of which, Profound Lore, a label that has a good year every year, is bringing us new albums from Altar Of Plagues, the Howling Wind, etc. Will also be glad to hear Negative Plane’s Stained Glass Revelations and the 2010 collections from Bergraven and Black Anvil. Early 2011: New Coffins on 20 Buck Spin (a split 12″ with them and Stormcrow before that).
Cephalic Carnage at Irving Plaza (more by Paul Birman)